20-time GRAMMY Award-Winning Composer & Guitarist, Pat Metheny Solo
Indy Jazz Fest 2023
Pat Metheny’s solo concert last night will be one of those concerts talked about for years. Although almost impossible to truly describe in a word, it was spectacular. You could feel it from the crowd that lingered in the Clowes Hall lobby as their conversations attempted to share what they had just experienced. This audience was there for Metheny – the silence, the respect for no cell phone videos, and the deafening applause – this was an audience that knew who they had come to hear.
Metheny Shares His Admiration for Wes Montgomery
And the night was personal for Metheny. He opened his remarks by sharing his admiration for Indy’s own Wes Montgomery, whom Metheny met before his untimely death and who he emulated in his teen years growing up in Kansas City and playing guitar. And while Wes was a huge influence among many mentors, tonight’s music would be all Metheny’s. It was a journey across the decades of Metheny’s music as he shared stories as well as descriptions of the many guitars he played.
Reflecting on his long friendship with bassist Charlie Haden and the first acoustic album they made together, Metheny offered a medley of Beyond The Missouri Sky as well as “Message to a Friend.” “Song for the Boys,” “Morning of the Carnival,” and a Beatles cover of “And I Love Her” were a few of the many memorable songs of the night.
Many Guitars were played including the baritone guitar.
As the night progressed, the guitars flowed – with at least eight guitars on stage at any one time. Metheny shared his experiences with the little-known baritone guitar and his experimentation with tunings, resulting in the What’s It All About album and his medley “Alfie / Rainy Days and Mondays / Garota de Ipanema / Last Train Home,” then switching back to nylon on the baritone to the “Girl / Here, There and Everywhere / Somewhere” medley.
Orchestrionics
And just when the audience thought the concert was coming to an end, the back curtain parted to reveal the magic of his album orchestrion. Metheny describes this musical creation on his website, “Orchestrionics is the term that I am using to describe a method of developing ensemble-oriented music using acoustic and acoustoelectric musical instruments that are mechanically controlled in a variety of ways, using solenoids and pneumatics. With a guitar, pen or keyboard, I am able to create a detailed compositional environment or a spontaneously developed improvisation, with the pieces on this particular recording leaning toward the compositional side of the spectrum. On top of these layers of acoustic sound, I add my conventional electric guitar playing as an improvised component.” And this music he created just added to the magic of the night.
A 20-time GRAMMY Award-winning composer and guitarist, Pat Metheny’s solo concert was a gift to all who were there.
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*Photographer Mark Sheldon is on the Board of Directors of The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation which produces Indy Jazz Fest.
Pat Metheny ©2023 Mark Sheldon
